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  • Date issue with echomail

    From Doug Mccomber@1:2320/100 to All on Wed May 30 11:41:02 2012
    Hi,

    I'm running DOS Telegard 3.09 g2 SP4 on Warp 4. It is working well but I am having a problem with the date time stamp of echomail. It is all appearing
    as epoch time (Jan 1 1970 at midnight). I'm using Internet Rex 2.29 OS/2 version and Squish 1.11 for OS/2.

    I manually unzipped a packet received in Irex and the dates are fine. So the problem lies either with Telegard or Squish. My gut feeling is that squish
    is stripping the date/time stamp from the echomail.

    Anyone encountered this before or have any ideas?

    Thanks,
    Doug

    --- Telegard v3.09.g2-sp4/mL
    # Origin: The Ville - Kinston, NS (1:255/36)
    # Origin: LiveWire BBS -=*=- telnet://livewirebbs.com (1:2320/100)
    * Origin: LiveWire BBS - Synchronet - LiveWireBBS.com (1:2320/100)
  • From Mark Lewis@1:2320/100 to Doug Mccomber on Wed May 30 13:18:02 2012
    but I am having a problem with the date time stamp of echomail.
    It is all appearing as epoch time (Jan 1 1970 at midnight). I'm
    using Internet Rex 2.29 OS/2 version and Squish 1.11 for OS/2.

    that's wierd... what's your system's time set to? are you using local time or are you running on UTC time?

    I manually unzipped a packet received in Irex and the dates are
    fine. So the problem lies either with Telegard or Squish. My gut feeling is that squish is stripping the date/time stamp from the echomail.

    highly unlikely... unless it has a bug and doesn't understand the time in the PKTs... are you running anything else on the PKTs before squish gets them??

    Anyone encountered this before or have any ideas?

    i have an idea but let's see what the above turns up...

    )\/(ark


    * Origin: (1:3634/12
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    o
    # Origin: LiveWire BBS -=*=- telnet://livewirebbs.com (1:2320/100)
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  • From Robert Wolfe@1:2320/100 to Doug Mccomber on Wed May 30 14:23:02 2012
    I'm running DOS Telegard 3.09 g2 SP4 on Warp 4. It is working well but I am ->having a problem with the date time stamp of echomail. It is all appearing ->as epoch time (Jan 1 1970 at midnight). I'm using Internet Rex 2.29 OS/2 ->version and Squish 1.11 for OS/2.

    I manually unzipped a packet received in Irex and the dates are fine. So the
    problem lies either with Telegard or Squish. My gut feeling is that squish ->is stripping the date/time stamp from the echomail.

    Anyone encountered this before or have any ideas?

    What is the system time of your OS/2 BBS machine set to? UTC or ?



    ...We are born naked, wet and hungry. Then things get worse.
    ---BapStats Module (bsDBASE v6.1 Build 1)

    * Origin: Omicron Theta BBS (1:261/20)
    --- SBBSecho 3.00-Win32
    # Origin: LiveWire BBS -=*=- telnet://livewirebbs.com (1:2320/100)
    * Origin: LiveWire BBS - Synchronet - LiveWireBBS.com (1:2320/100)
  • From Doug Mccomber@1:2320/100 to Mark Lewis on Wed May 30 21:49:02 2012
    that's wierd... what's your system's time set to? are you using local
    time or are you running on UTC time?

    It is local time. Even so, the date and time on the echomail should change (even if is incorrect) yet they are all the same.

    highly unlikely... unless it has a bug and doesn't understand the
    time in the PKTs... are you running anything else on the PKTs before squish gets them??

    Nope.

    i have an idea but let's see what the above turns up...

    Let's hear it. :)

    Thanks,
    Doug

    --- Telegard v3.09.g2-sp4/mL
    # Origin: The Ville - Kinston, NS (1:255/36)
    # Origin: LiveWire BBS -=*=- telnet://livewirebbs.com (1:2320/100)
    * Origin: LiveWire BBS - Synchronet - LiveWireBBS.com (1:2320/100)
  • From Doug Mccomber@1:2320/100 to Robert Wolfe on Wed May 30 21:51:02 2012
    time of your OS/2 BBS machine set to? UTC or ?

    It is local. Regardless, the date time stamp on all echomail is the same "1 Jan 1970 12:00:00a". There is not a second's difference between them.

    Thanks,
    Doug

    --- Telegard v3.09.g2-sp4/mL
    # Origin: The Ville - Kinston, NS (1:255/36)
    # Origin: LiveWire BBS -=*=- telnet://livewirebbs.com (1:2320/100)
    * Origin: LiveWire BBS - Synchronet - LiveWireBBS.com (1:2320/100)
  • From Robert Wolfe@1:2320/100 to Doug Mccomber on Wed May 30 22:21:02 2012

    time of your OS/2 BBS machine set to? UTC or ?

    It is local. Regardless, the date time stamp on all echomail is the same "1 ->Jan 1970 12:00:00a". There is not a second's difference between them.

    What are you using for echomail and does the time stamp look fine in the BBS itself? Is the BBS machine running in a VM or is it running on real, physical hardware?



    ...It only prevents you from enjoying it.
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    * Origin: Omicron Theta BBS (1:261/20)
    --- SBBSecho 3.00-Win32
    # Origin: LiveWire BBS -=*=- telnet://livewirebbs.com (1:2320/100)
    * Origin: LiveWire BBS - Synchronet - LiveWireBBS.com (1:2320/100)
  • From Doug Mccomber@1:2320/100 to All on Wed May 30 22:54:02 2012
    I'm running DOS Telegard 3.09 g2 SP4 on Warp 4. It is working well
    but I am having a problem with the date time stamp of echomail. It
    is all appearing as epoch time (Jan 1 1970 at midnight). I'm using Internet Rex 2.29 OS/2 version and Squish 1.11 for OS/2.

    I should also mention that my own post's date time stamp appear correct.

    --- Telegard v3.09.g2-sp4/mL
    # Origin: The Ville - Kinston, NS (1:255/36)
    # Origin: LiveWire BBS -=*=- telnet://livewirebbs.com (1:2320/100)
    * Origin: LiveWire BBS - Synchronet - LiveWireBBS.com (1:2320/100)
  • From Robert Wolfe@1:2320/100 to Doug Mccomber on Thu May 31 08:18:02 2012

    *** Quoting ROBERT WOLFE from a message to Doug Mccomber ***

    What are you using for echomail and does the time stamp look fine ->RW> in the BBS itself? Is the BBS machine running in a VM or is it
    running on real, physical hardware?

    Irex with its built-in binkp. The dates are correct and intact in the inbound
    packets. The echomail areas in the BBS are in squish format (and were tossed
    by squish). The dates are missing (or appear to be) in the echomail files ->within the BBS.

    I'm just using OS/2's included text editor to view them and whether looking at
    the Irex packet or the tossed squish file in the BBS, they have lots of funky
    symbols in them. These symbols may be masking the date in the BBS files, I'm
    not sure.

    The BBS computer is real, not a vm. Regardless I don't think the system clock
    has any bearing or the dates would be different, just off. Instead they are ->all exactly the same.

    By mailer I means are you using the Squish software itself (which I believe
    has a Y2K update you may need if that is the case), FastEcho, or something else?



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    * Origin: Omicron Theta BBS (1:261/20)
    --- SBBSecho 3.00-Win32
    # Origin: LiveWire BBS -=*=- telnet://livewirebbs.com (1:2320/100)
    * Origin: LiveWire BBS - Synchronet - LiveWireBBS.com (1:2320/100)
  • From Doug Mccomber@1:2320/100 to All on Thu May 31 09:14:02 2012
    I manually unzipped a packet received in Irex and the dates are fine.
    So the problem lies either with Telegard or Squish. My gut feeling
    is that squish is stripping the date/time stamp from the echomail.

    Solved! It was squish, but not squish's fault. I was thinking there was a Y2K issue so I googled squish y2k and lo and behold there was an update I hadn't installed. Working great now (of course). Thanks for everyone's help and suggestions.

    Regards,
    Doug

    --- Telegard v3.09.g2-sp4/mL
    # Origin: The Ville - Kinston, NS (1:255/36)
    # Origin: LiveWire BBS -=*=- telnet://livewirebbs.com (1:2320/100)
    * Origin: LiveWire BBS - Synchronet - LiveWireBBS.com (1:2320/100)
  • From Doug Mccomber@1:2320/100 to Robert Wolfe on Thu May 31 10:18:02 2012
    *** Quoting ROBERT WOLFE from a message to Doug Mccomber ***

    By mailer I means are you using the Squish software itself (which I believe has a Y2K update you may need if that is the case), FastEcho,
    or something else?

    Yes, I'm using Squish and the Y2K update was exactly what I needed.

    Thanks,
    Doug

    --- Telegard v3.09.g2-sp4/mL
    # Origin: The Ville - Kinston, NS (1:255/36)
    # Origin: LiveWire BBS -=*=- telnet://livewirebbs.com (1:2320/100)
    * Origin: LiveWire BBS - Synchronet - LiveWireBBS.com (1:2320/100)
  • From Robert Wolfe@1:2320/100 to Doug Mccomber on Thu May 31 10:36:02 2012
    Yes, I'm using Squish and the Y2K update was exactly what I needed.

    You are more than welcome. Always happy to help.



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    * Origin: LiveWire BBS - Synchronet - LiveWireBBS.com (1:2320/100)
  • From Mark Lewis@1:2320/100 to Doug Mccomber on Thu May 31 15:18:02 2012
    local time or are you running on UTC time?

    It is local time. Even so, the date and time on the echomail
    should change (even if is incorrect) yet they are all the same.

    "should change" or "should NOT change"??

    highly unlikely... unless it has a bug and doesn't understand the
    time in the PKTs... are you running anything else on the PKTs before squish gets them??

    Nope.

    i have an idea but let's see what the above turns up...

    Let's hear it. :)

    it may be that your software isn't recognizing dates in PKTs that are y2k buggy... there is still software out there like this... on my system, my mailer pulls in the PKTs and mail bundles... mail bundles being those FR1, TU3, WE0 archive files with one or more PKTs inside it... my system then uses spaz or a similar tool to open the mail bundles and pull out the raw PKTs... then we run pktdate on all those PKT files... it will fix the dates for tossing and make a backup of the original PKT file as a Y2K file for you to study if you want... then i finally let my mail tosser at the PKT files... my mail tosser hasn't seen a mail bundle to unarchive in at least 12 years ;)

    Y2KTOOL5.ZIP 378994 14-Jan-2000 ==============================================
    Fido Year 2000 Tools Rel. 5 by Tobias Ernst

    PKTDATE 1.4 is a program that can analyse
    PKT files for structural errors that result
    from year 2000 related bugs in the creating
    software and automatically fix such broken
    PKT files. It is intended for use at hub
    level in the Fidonet distribution structure
    in order to alleviate the effects of the
    year 2000 problem on the smooth operation
    of Fidonet. Also included are a general
    information text on the year 2000 problem
    in Fidonet, and tools for analysing MSG,
    JAM and Squish message base files.


    )\/(ark


    * Origin: (1:3634/12
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    a
    # Origin: LiveWire BBS -=*=- telnet://livewirebbs.com (1:2320/100)
    * Origin: LiveWire BBS - Synchronet - LiveWireBBS.com (1:2320/100)
  • From Mark Lewis@1:2320/100 to Doug Mccomber on Thu May 31 19:08:02 2012
    in the BBS itself? Is the BBS machine running in a VM or is it
    running on real, physical hardware?

    Irex with its built-in binkp.

    irex is a mailer...

    The dates are correct and intact in the inbound packets.

    ok, so you do have a mechanism where you can save the original stuff before processing... that's good... i do the same here and retain 30 days of mail ;)

    The echomail areas in the BBS are in squish format (and were
    tossed by squish).

    what version of squish??

    The dates are missing (or appear to be) in the echomail files
    within the BBS.

    what bbs software?

    I'm just using OS/2's included text editor to view them and whether looking at the Irex packet or the tossed squish file in the BBS,
    they have lots of funky symbols in them. These symbols may be
    masking the date in the BBS files, I'm not sure.

    you can't use an editor to look at binary data ;) many do but you really should use a proper tool... in this case, you might want to see if you can locate david nugent's inspecta... i should have a copy available on my system... but it analyses the pkts and allows you to read the messages packed into them... it is old but it does allow you to look deep when you need to... if one needs to go further, there may be other tools... i haven't looked at my analyser in a while so i don't know if it does y2k stuff or not...

    The BBS computer is real, not a vm.

    real iron is always best... maybe not the cheapest but it is the best...

    Regardless I don't think the system clock has any bearing or the
    dates would be different, just off. Instead they are all exactly
    the same.

    i'm still thinking a y2k problem in those dates in those packets you are being fed...

    )\/(ark


    * Origin: (1:3634/12
    --- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
    h
    # Origin: LiveWire BBS -=*=- telnet://livewirebbs.com (1:2320/100)
    * Origin: LiveWire BBS - Synchronet - LiveWireBBS.com (1:2320/100)
  • From Mark Lewis@1:2320/100 to Doug Mccomber on Thu May 31 19:13:02 2012
    there was a Y2K issue so I googled squish y2k and lo and behold
    there was an update I hadn't installed.

    bang on! i'd still recommend acquiring y2ktool5.zip and implementing it in your inbound processing chain, though ;)

    )\/(ark


    * Origin: (1:3634/12
    --- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
    # Origin: LiveWire BBS -=*=- telnet://livewirebbs.com (1:2320/100)
    * Origin: LiveWire BBS - Synchronet - LiveWireBBS.com (1:2320/100)
  • From Mark Lewis@1:2320/100 to Robert Wolfe on Thu May 31 19:14:02 2012
    that would be the tosser (inbound) and scanner (outbound)... the mailer is irex ;)

    )\/(ark


    * Origin: (1:3634/12
    --- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
    b
    # Origin: LiveWire BBS -=*=- telnet://livewirebbs.com (1:2320/100)
    * Origin: LiveWire BBS - Synchronet - LiveWireBBS.com (1:2320/100)
  • From Robert Wolfe@1:2320/100 to Mark Lewis on Thu May 31 22:27:02 2012
    that would be the tosser (inbound) and scanner (outbound)... the
    mailer is irex ;)

    Guess I made a mistake then :) Then again, 2 hours of sleep out of a 24
    hour day doesn't help any either.

    --- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
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